MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball returns home to host local rivals San Francisco on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and Santa Clara on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.  
 
It's a flip of the same road stretch the Gaels had in mid-January, where they won 78-64 at Santa Clara on Thursday the 12th, and 67-63 at USF on the 14th.
 
Saint Mary's will celebrate New Zealand Day and its Kiwi players on Thursday, and Saturday is the annual "Play for Kay" game with pink shirts given away to the first 100 fans in attendance. Guests will also have the opportunity to donate towards cancer research and healthcare for underserved women.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (11-13, 5-8) vs. USF (15-9, 5-7)
Thursday, February 9 at 6:30 p.m.
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.   
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Saint Mary's (11-13, 5-8) vs. Santa Clara (14-11, 5-7)
Saturday, February 11 at 5:00 p.m.
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.  
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LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's rallied all the way back from a 19-point deficit to take the lead early in the fourth at LMU last Saturday, before the Lions closed the game out on a 15-2 run to sweep the season series in a 79-66 loss for the Gaels.
 
Saint Mary's would finish the third on a 12-3 run to make it just a 55-53 lead for LMU. The Gaels won that third 17-8 and six different SMC players scored.
 
Second-chance opportunities for the Lions would be in the difference in the final stretch.
 
After an offensive rebound led to a three for the Lions to make it 69-64 LMU, that was followed by a block of a Gaels layup attempt on other end, and LMU hit a three to extend their lead to 72-64 just three minutes after SMC took the lead.
 
A layup by Clair Steele cut it back to 72-66 but another offensive rebound for the Lions with 49.2 seconds left led to an LMU free throw to put them up by seven.

Saint Mary's had four players score in double figures, led by Taycee Wedin's 18 points on 7 of 15 shooting and 4 of 11 on threes.
 
Hannah Rapp had 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting, including 2 for 2 from deep, as did Clair Steele who shot 4 of 7 from the floor. Ali Bamberger finished with 11 points along with nine rebounds to lead the Gaels, and Leia Hanafin had nine assists to led the team to go along with seven boards.
 
 
ABOUT USF
The Dons currently rank fourth in the WCC in points per game as they're averaging 71.2 this season while shooting 41% percent from the field as a team.
 
Leading the way for the Dons throughout the season has been the scoring of Ioanna Krimili who currently ranks second in the WCC by averaging 17.6 PPG while attempting a league-high 14 field goal attempts per game.
 
USF remains one of the best rebounding teams in the league as they currently rank just behind Pepperdine as they've grabbed 39 boards per game as a team this season. 
 
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
Broncos freshman guard Tess Heal made it three in a row and four of the last five Monday, earning her ninth West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week award for her efforts during the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 against the conference's top two teams.
 
Heal has won every WCC Freshman of the Week award since Jan. 23, matching her season-long streak of three in a row. She's won nine of the 13 awards handed out this weekend. Santa Clara has collected 10 of the 13 awards, with teammate Marya Hudgins winning the honor on Jan. 16.
 
Her 16.2 points per game is ranked sixth among all freshmen in the country through Sunday. No freshman in any of the West Region's Division I conferences (WCC, Pac-12, Mountain West, Big West, Big Sky, WAC) is scoring higher than her. Heal's 4.1 assists per game are ranked seventh in the country among freshmen.
 
2022-23 YEARBOOK
The 2022-23 Saint Mary's Basketball Yearbook is available HERE. This contains all of your information on both Saint Mary's basketball programs, coach and player profiles, as well as Saint Mary's, administration, and fan information.
 
#GaelsRise — 2022-23 tickets and ticket packages are on sale now! To purchase tickets, click HERE. If you have questions, contact the ticket office by email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu or call 925-631-4689.